Parental Rights

The Family Foundation believes that both the responsibility and the authority for raising children rest primarily with their biological or adoptive parents. Government should empower parents to control the upbringing of their children and minimize its interference with the exercise of parental authority, except in cases of demonstrable abuse or neglect. Specifically, public policy should protect the right and maximize the power of parents to choose the form of education they wish for their children, be it public schools, secular or religious private schools, or home schooling. Public schools should avoid undermining parental authority or interfering with transmission of parental values to their children. Medical procedures should not be performed on minors without parental consent, except in cases of medical emergency or public health necessity. The right of parents to lovingly discipline their children should not be infringed.